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Invocations of Shaadhili Order by Nuh Ha Mim Keller
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Violations
of Muslim Creed (Aqeeda)
-
Keller
and his support for old extreme Sufi's
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Over
praising Sheikhs
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Sufi
heresies
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Sufi
orders- disunite Muslims
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Putting oneself in a position of
Legislation belonging to Allah and the Prophet SAAWS
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Using
problematic Sufi terms or concepts
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Weak
/ confusing / meaningless statements
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Gh'ulu
(going to the extreme) in praising the Prophet.
In
Page 1, Keller says:
“This
blessed collection contains those of the invocations and prayers of the Pole
and Succor my master Abul Hasan al-Shadhili”
Comments:
Before
stating the comment, let’s consider first the definition of the terms
“pole” and “succor”. The
term Pole in Sufi literature means the “perfect man” who holds Allah’s
attention in this world; all the affairs of creation revolve around him. He
takes his way in the universe, both the seen and unseen parts of it, as the
spirit takes its way in the body. He
could also be called al-Gouth (Succor, i.e. helper) because people seek his
assistance in case of adversity. Ahmad
al-Tijani (the founder of the Tijani Sufi order) said, “The reality of the
Pole status is that he is great vicegerent of Al-Haqq (i.e. Allah) in all the
universe, wherever Allah is a God, the pole is his vicegerent in the sense that
he (i.e. the pole) carries out all the decrees that Allah might have. So,
nothing will reach the creation except through the pole.”
1.
A Muslim wonders where the Sufis got these ideas from. The Sufis claim
that they follow the Quran and the Sunnah but they adopt concepts that
contradict these two sources.
2.
Why would Allah need a human to help Him run the affairs of the universe?
3.
What are our duties as “generic” Muslims towards the Pole?
4.
Should we seek help, in case of adversity, from Allah or from the
Pole/Succor?
Comments:
-
According
to the belief of Muslims, any text (narrated via authentic chain of
narrators) that goes back to Allah SWT, must either be in the Quran or
Hadith.
-
Keller
clearly states -as the reader can see- that these innovations have a chain
of narrators that goes back to Allah SWT.
Hence, these invocations must be either Quran or Hadith! No
However no Muslim scholars would agree to such a claim. We
request the Sufis to name one scholar who would agree with Keller’s
statement and its implications. Amongst the reasons scholars of Hadith would
reject this claim is:
These
invocations have a fundamental problem when it comes to its Isnad (chain
of narrators).
Problem
with Isnad
According
to the scholars of Hadith, Al-hasan al-Basri could not have narrated
Hadith from ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib RA. Among those scholars are:
-
Imam
Abu Zur’ah who was asked whether al-Hasn al-Basri RA heard hadith from any
of the companions who witnessed the battle of Badr (the first battle the
Prophet SAAWS fought). Abu Zur’ah said that al-Hasan saw many of them
including Othman RA and Ali RA. Abu Zur’ah was then asked if al-Hasan had
heard hadith from these two. He replied: “No, he –al-Hasan- saw Ali RA
in Madinah then Ali left to al-Koofah and al-Hasan did not see him after
that.
-
Imam
Ali bin al-Madini said: “al-Hasan had not seen Ali RA unless he saw him in
Madinah when he (al-Hasan) was young.
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Among
those scholars (who disproved that Hasan Al-Basri narrated Hadith from Ali
Ibn Abi Talib) is Imam ibn Hajar al-Askalani (d
852 H) who is considered one of the greatest scholars of hadith. He is the
one who wrote Fath al-Bari, which is regarded by all the scholars as
the best explanation of Sahih al-Bukhari.
-
Imam
Buhz bin Asad said: “Only the ignorant people claim that al-Hasan had
heard hadiths from 70 of the companions who witnessed the battle of Badr.
The
above statements were quoted by two prominent scholars of hadith:
1.
Imam ibn Hajar: See Tahdheeb al-Kamal, vol. 2 page 231, published by dar
al-Fikr, 1984. Ibn Hajar is the Imam who authored Fath al-Bari, a
commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari.
2.
Imam Abi Hatim: See al-Maraseel, page 938, published by dar al-Kutub
al-‘ilmiyyah, first edition, 1938.
As a result,
the Isnad is considered broken which renders the text being narrated
unacceptable. It is worth mentioning that most Sufi orders claim they have Isnad
which goes through Al-Hasan al-Basri RA who narrates from Ali ibn Abi
Talib RA.
(a fabricated claim)
The above is
just another sign that reveals that the Sufi masters –in general- did not pay
attention to the science of Hadith. If the readers go to the books of Hadith
that provide biographies of the scholars or narrators of Hadith, they will find
almost no Sufi master among them. This fact forces the late Sufis to claim that
some distinguished Hadith scholars – like an-Nawawi and ibn Hajar- were Sufis.
If this was true, then we ask them, which Sufi order/tariqa did an-Nawawi and
ibn Hajar follow?
5. If
these invocations were narrated through authentic sources, then how come they
are not mentioned in any of the books that compile the authentic Hadith of the
Prophet SAAWS. If these were authentic, then the following questions are
legitimate:
a.
Why were Muslims unaware of them until al-Shadhili (the founder of the
Shadhili order) made them public, six centuries after the Prophet’s death?
b.
Why are these narrations not mentioned in the works of the great scholars
of hadith, like al-Bukhari, Muslim, at-Tirmidhi, etc?
Page 77: Keller
quotes a Sufi 'ibn Mashish' saying the following supplication:
“And
plunge me into the seas of the absolute oneness which encompasses the composite
and the simple; and pluck me from the mires of affirming [Tawheed], to the
infinite space of singularizing the One, transcendently beyond absoluteness or
conditionednees; And drown me in the very sea of [al-Wahdah], in Gnostic
vision, until I do not see, or hear, or find, or sense anything but it, whether
descending or ascending, as shall ever be existence.”
[Between
the brackets is the original word in Arabic. We did not use Keller’s
translation because it does not convey the FULL Arabic meaning.]
Comments:
This
statement of Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish (on of the Sufis) has been considered kufr
by tens of scholars. And therefore its being mentioned by Keller shows either
his weakness in understanding the seriousness of this statement, or his lack of
concern towards its kuffr.
The reason
this statement was declared kuffr is the fact that ibn Mashish was not satisfied
with the Tawheed everyday Muslims believe in (that Allah is one and the creator
of all the creation). But rather he preferred to “drown into the sea of
al-Wahdah,” which means uniting
with or joining with Allah (wanting to move out of creation and into the
creator).
Page 13: Keller says:
“My
master ‘Abd al-Wahhaab al-Sha’rani says: ‘(In) every
sheikh Allah has placed his help, his secret, and the secret of his order
in the daily invocations he has the disciple recite.
So whoever misses his daily litany has broken his covenant with his
sheikh. They are unanimous that no disciple has ever missed his litany save
that the divine assistances were cut off from him that day.’”
Comments:
1.
Comments on the statement can be found elsewhere in this web site.
2.
Contemporary (later) Sufis tried to distance themselves from traditional
Sufis, who were known to promote extreme concepts.
Many of those (traditional) Sufis were pronounced Kuffar by Muslim
scholars.
Keller
however finds no problem
in mentioning and praising
many such extreme (traditional) Sufis
in his writings, including:-
This Sufi said “And in case you are in a state of distress, depression and
adversity, then call (saying): ‘O Zarruq’, and I will come in haste”
The
above statement is found in page 108, The Dispraise of al-Hawa by
Saleh al-Saleh, Published by dar al-Bukhari, 1998.
Comments:
This statement and its utterance is clear Shirk, may Allah protect us from
that. Ameen.
·
Al-Sha’arani:
Al-Sha’arani is quoted on
page 13 of the book we are reviewing. He is also praised by Keller as a
“ Sha’afi scholar and prolific author in works in Sufism, sacred law
and tenants of faith…”[2]
Al-Sha’arani
is a Sufi who wrote a book about Sufi's and filled it with Sufi superstitions
and fairy tales. These are examples from the “Sufi Master” al-Sha’arani’s
book:
1.
“a man would not attain
the levels of the siddiqeen, until he leaves his wife as if she was a widow, his
kids as if they were orphans, and takes refuge in dogs pens."[3]
2.
Ash-Sha’arani also praised a celebrated Sufi, who “cut of his own
private part in the beginning of his ‘Jathbah'[4] a
mystic Sufi state.”
3.
Ash-Sha’arani considers Ibraheem
al-Arian as one of
the awliya’ (friends of Allah) and mentions amongst his Karamah
(wonders):
"He
-may Allah be pleased with him- was entering a village greeting its people, old
and young, by their names as if he had been raised amongst them. And he -may
Allah be pleased with him- would get on the pulpit and give a speech naked."[5]
This
description of this great sufi sheikh gives a glimpse of the sufi 'inner
knowledge" (or heart knowledge), which we Ahlu-sunnah wa-aljama'ah, can't
enjoy. Since we have sunk deeply into the books of Sunnah and lost the road to
Sufi freedom. So enjoy the Sufi freedom above.
Page
13: Keller says:
“My
master ‘Abd al-Wahhaab al-Sha’rani says: ‘Every sheikh Allah has placed
his help, his secret, and the secret of his order in the daily
invocations he has the disciple recite. So whoever misses his daily litany has broken
his covenant with his sheikh. They are unanimous that no disciple has ever
missed his litany save that the divine assistances were cut off from him that
day.’”
Comments:
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Intellect
is the most precious faculty that Allah SWT has provided humankind.
Allah refers to it in numerous places in the Quran:
“Many
are the Jinns and men We have made for Hell: they have hearts wherewith they understand
not, eyes wherewith they see not, and ears wherewith they hear not. They are
like cattle, nay more misguided: for they are heedless (of warning)” Verse
179, Surah 7
-Al-A'raf
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What
is the sheikh’s “secret”? Recently, Sufis claim to follow the Quran
and the Sunnah. If this is
true, then let one of them provide us evidence from any of these two sources
that the concept of the sheikh's
secret exists in Islam.
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What
is the sheikh’s “covenant”? Where
did this concept come from? We
need a proof from the Quran and the Sunnah.
-
Is
it not better if they tied a person to Allah instead of the sheikh?
What if Allah caused the sheikh to deviate? We have to remember that
Prophet Muhammad SAAWS used to make the following du’a: “O flipper of
the hearts, keep my heart firm on your religion.” (Recorded by Ahmad and
al-Trimidhi) If the Prophet SAAWS was scared his heart may deviate, we must
realize that no sheikh is infallible or perfect.
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How
did al-Sha’rani know that divine assistances would be cut off? Where is
the evidence from the Quran or the Sunnah?
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The
reality is these statements, and others like them, are used to plant the
seed of blind following in the followers’ hearts to scare them from
breaking away from the Sufi path. Remember
that Keller himself is a Sufi sheikh, and has followers.
This statement of his seems self-serving.
-
Al-Sha’arni
was a Sufi who wrote a book
about Sufi people and filled it with Sufi superstitions and fairy tales.
E
xamples
of his writings are provided above.
In
Page 19 Keller says:
“Another
of the litanies is al-Hizb al-kabir [The Grand Invocation], by sheikh Abul Hasan
al-Shadhili (Allah be well pleased with him), also known as hizb al-Barr [the
litany of the land]. The sheikh said of it (Allah be well pleased with him): ‘whoever
recites our invocation shall have what we do, and bear what we bear.’ He
also said (Allah be well pleased with him), ‘whoever learns it by heart is
one of my companions’.”
Comments:
-
It
seems that al-Shadhili (the founder of the Shadhili order) is putting
himself in an equal footing with the Prophet SAAWS in the sense that he
encouraged his companions to recite his invocations like the way the Prophet
SAAWS encouraged his companions to recite the prophetic invocations.
-
On
what grounds did this “Sufi master” request his followers to learn his
invocation by heart.
In
Page 102 Keller says:
“The
conditions of a sheikh to whom a disciple may entrust himself are…”
Comments:
-
Who
said that a person should entrust himself to a sheikh?
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Did
the Prophet SAAWS ask Muslims to entrust themselves to a sheikh.
-
The
Sufis are requested to show us evidence from the Quran or the Sunnah, since
they claim that they follow them.
In
Pages 102-103 Keller says:
“The
conduct of the disciple towards the sheikh and brethren consists in five things:
following what the sheikh says, even if something else seems better; avoiding
what he forbids, even if it means one’s death; upholding the sheikh’s
honor be he absent or present, alive or dead; fulfilling the sheikh’s rights
to the degree possible, without remissness; and suspending one’s intellect,
knowledge, and leadership, except as the sheikh confirms.”
Comments:
This statement is
self-explanatory. However there are some comments that need to be made:
-
The
above statement of Keller implies one of the following:
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The
sheikh is infallible so the Mureed (i.e. follower) must obey him, or
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The
sheikh is fallible but the Mureed is Islamically obligated to
obey his sheikh’s commands, even if that entails committing haram
(unlawful acts).
These
2 implications have very serious consequences.
Hence they can’t be accepted without clear evidence from the Quran
or the Sunnah. The fact of the matter is that Allah and His Messenger reject
the above statement and, of course, its implications.
-
In
the life of the prophet SAAWS, we find the companions discussed matters with
the Prophet SAAWS, and they might politely object to some of his actions.
Take for example the following Hadith recorded
by al-Bukhari RA in Volume
2, Book 23, Number 359: Narrated
by
Ibn
'Umar:
When
'Abdullah bin Ubai (the chief of hypocrites) died, his son came to the Prophet
and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Please give me your shirt to shroud him in
it, offer his funeral prayer and ask for Allah's forgiveness for him." So
Allah's Apostle (SAAWS) gave his shirt to him and said, "Inform me (When
the funeral is ready) so that I may offer the funeral prayer." So, he
informed him and when the Prophet intended to offer the funeral prayer, 'Umar
took hold of his hand and said, "Has Allah not forbidden you to offer the
funeral prayer for the hypocrites? The Prophet said, "I
have been given the choice for Allah says: '(It does not avail) Whether you (O
Muhammad) ask forgiveness for them (hypocrites), or do not ask for forgiveness
for them. Even though you ask for their forgiveness seventy times, Allah will
not forgive them." (9.80) So the
Prophet offered the funeral prayer and on that the revelation came: "And
never (O Muhammad) pray (funeral prayer) for any of them (i.e. hypocrites)
that dies." (9. 84)
Compare
this to Keller’s statement: “suspending
one’s intellect, knowledge, and leadership, except as the sheikh confirms.”
-
In
the lives of the four rightly guided khalifahs (Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and
Ali, may Allah be pleased with them all): One may find numerous
authentic stories in which common Muslims object to those guided khalifahs
and they were not asked to suspend there “intellect, knowledge, and
leadership, except as the khalifahs confirms”. Keep in mind that no
Sufi sheikh can measure up or even get close to the level of any of those
khalifah who are promised Paradise and whose footsteps we were ordered to
follow in the hadith narrated by al-bara bin Azib, in which the Prophet
SAAWS said, “Hold fast to my Sunnah (way) and the Sunnah of the rightly
guided khalifah after me.” (Recorded by Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood,
and Ibn Majah)
-
Can
a sufi mureed (i.e. follower) have 2 sheikhs? If yes, then which one should
he obey if they gave him conflicting orders?
In
Pages 88-89, Keller says about the al-Yaqutiyya Litany:
About
the al-Yaqutiyya Litany, he said: “Another of the litanies is al-Yaqutiyya
[The Invocation of the Priceless Gem], by the great teacher and sheikh
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Mas’ud al-Fasi (Allah be well pleased with him), who
after authoring it saw the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
pointing with his noble index finger at the sheikh’s chest and saying,
‘This is the impregnable secret.’ He then showed it to the inner
circle of the saints, and it won their approval, and the Pole
said, ‘whoever regularly recites it three times, morning and evening, shall
frequently see the Prophet, both awake and asleep, in the sensory and the
spiritual.’ It is also related from the teacher that one of the
brethren entered a retreat in which he unceasingly recited it for seven
days, and he did not depart before he had met the Prophet while awake
and taken knowledge’s and secrets from him.”
Comments:
-
Since
when did dreams become a source of legislation? (We are assuming that al-Fasi
saw the Prophet while asleep.)
The
right to issue a religious command
or prohibition belongs to Allah SWT alone, whether concerning beliefs,
rituals, worship, or mundane affairs. He
describes this in the verse, “The command (or the
judgment) is for none but Allah. He
has commanded that you worship none but Him.” (Surah 12, Verse 40)
And even though the Prophet Muhammad SAAWS was honored and blessed with
the last prophethood by Allah SWT, nonetheless the Prophet SAAWS never spoke
about religious matters without receiving revelation from Allah.
There are numerous examples in the pages of authentic literature on the
Prophet’s life, SAAWS, which clearly demonstrate his habit of waiting for
revelation from Allah before answering questions about the religion.
As
for using one’s dreams as a source of revelation from Allah, this matter
must be properly understood in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah, lest a
person depends upon Satan instead of Allah.
Religious
revelation, whether through a dream or other forms of inspiration, belongs to
prophets.
There
are some mentionable examples of Prophet’s whose dreams served as a source
of revelation for them; but this trait is solely for the Prophets of Allah.
The Prophet Ibrahim’s dream, in which he saw himself sacrificing his
son, Ismail, was interpreted as a religious command for him, which he
attempted to follow (see Surah 37, Verses 102-106).
Prophet Muhammad SAAWS saw Aisha presented to him by Gibreel in a dream
(the hadith may be found in Bukhari), which was a type of command for the
Prophet SAAWS to marry her later in their lives.
However, commanding dreams are not found in the lives of anyone other
than the Prophets of Allah. Our
ways of worship, including du’aa since the Prophet SAAWS said that
supplication is worship, cannot be taken from the dreams of normal men anymore
than they can be taken from the statements of normal men.
Religious revelation, whether through a dream or other forms of
inspiration, belongs to prophets. This
is the crux of their prophethood. How
can anyone claim to have received a religious revelation from Allah, unless
he/she is claiming to be a prophet of Allah?
Although a Muslim, or in rare cases a
Kafir, may have a dream foretelling a future event, this is not to be
considered a religious revelation or command. There
is a difference between seeing the truth, whether through dreams or scientific
findings, etc., and receiving religious commands and prohibitions, ‘wahy’
in Arabic. The truth is open to
everyone. It is all around us. Allah
created the heavens and the earth as a sign for those who reflect.
And sometimes, a person may also see reality in his dreams.
But, the religion of Allah is a special matter that He has entrusted to
mankind in a special way, through chosen prophets, who are not to be
contradicted, opposed, or competed with in the matter of their Message.
For the sake of argument, imagine
that a person (other than a prophet) did accept his own dreams as a source of
religious law and practice. Dreams
come from three sources: Allah, Satan, and the ramblings of the mind as
mentioned in the hadith. If a person accepts his dreams as a source of
religious revelation, then it is possible for Satan to deceive him through his
dreams. Even in some waking
visions, sometimes Satan appears to a person in a radiant form, inviting him
to other than Allah’s religion; of course, he is able to do the same in a
sleeping dream. In the end, the
person would certainly be confused about his Lord and his religion.
Furthermore, he is pursuing a part of prophethood for himself.
Allah SWT informed us of various motivations behind the kufr men
commit, including the desire for prophethood, as He says, “Nay,
but everyone of them desires that he should be given open pages (from Allah).
Nay, verily, they fear not the Hereafter.” (Surah 74, Verses
52-53) May Allah protect us from
this envy, and open our hearts to His verse, “Allah
knows best with whom to place His Message.” (Surah 6, Verse 124)
Islam
is simple and complete. One need
only learn and understand the Quran and the Sunnah to know his religion.
Dreams are not always founded in reality; and only the dreams of prophets
are founded in religious revelation. There
is no need, and truly it is a grave mistake, to search through dreams in order
to find the religion of Allah.
-
What
is the impregnable secret? Why
are there so many secrets in the Sufi path?
-
Are
there secrets in Islam? The
truth opposes the secrecy the Sufis deal in; it is open and welcoming, not
elusive and exclusive. What
does the “inner circle of the saints” mean?
-
Who
are its members?
-
How
do they differ from the saint in Christianity?
-
How
do they differ from everyday Muslims?
-
What
gives them their authority to approve or disapprove?
-
Why
does the Prophet SAAWS need to show them the litany to win their
approval? Do they share with the Prophet’s role as a lawgiver?
-
What
are the obligations of generic Muslims towards them?
-
How
can one tell if this story has really happened? What if someone
claimed that he saw the Prophet SAAWS and he –the Prophet SAAWS- has
authorized him to use certain litany and to call people to its use?
How can we tell if he is telling the truth or lying?
The reader must have noticed that this kind of story cannot be
subjected to the rigorous filtration process the scholars have used to
sift out unauthentic hadiths.
-
Regarding
the statement, “and the Pole said, ‘whoever regularly recites it
three times, morning and evening, shall frequently see the Prophet, both
awake and asleep, in the sensory and the spiritual.’”
Why
did the Prophet SAAWS not tell his companions about this litany?
If this litany is part of Islam, then there is only one of 2
possibilities:
-
The
Prophet SAAWS did not know about it, i.e. he was ignorant, or
-
The
Prophet SAAWS knew about it but failed to inform his companions about
it, i.e. he did not convey the message as he was supposed to do.
No
Muslim in his/her right mind would attribute any of the above to our Prophet
SAAWS but this is the implication of what Keller is saying.
-
Keller
also said, “’It is also related from the teacher that one of the
brethren entered a retreat in which he unceasingly recited it for
seven days, and he did not depart before he had met the Prophet while
awake and taken knowledge and secrets from him.”
-
Who
is this brother? According to scholars of hadith such Isnad (chain of
narrators) is not accepted because of the narrator being unknown.
-
We
wonder if this is the Isnad the Sufis always talk about? Compare it to
the Isnad of Ahul Sunnah! (Where everyone in the chain is known and
recorded as an honest person.)
-
What
is the knowledge and secrets that he took from the Prophet? We assume
they are religious matters, so how do they relate to the Shari’ah
(Islamic legislation) we got from the Prophet SAAWS? Does this knowledge
and secrets abrogate the Shari’ah?
-
What
if someone claimed that he saw the Prophet SAAWS, who gave some secret
knowledge contradicting some practices established by the Shari’ah?
Then how would common Muslims who follow the Shari’ah make
sensible discussion with him?
In
Page 94 Keller says:
“The
Latifiyya is recited in a group on Tuesday nights, and there is general
permission to participate for both people who have taken the tariqa and
others who may attend.”
Comments:
-
Does
it work if we recite it Sunday night?
-
Where
did this Latifiyya come from?
-
Who
has the authority to give the permission?
-
What
if someone did some of the tariqa Dhikr without permission? Will he/she be
held responsible on the Day of Judgment for that? Will some harm befall
him/her?
In
Page 94 Keller says:
Regarding
the Latifiyyah, he says: “It has been related, as to its number, that some
who have great spiritual ambition recite ‘O Gently Kind’ 14,444 times all
of which pertains to saying it in a group.”
Comments:
Who
related this? Is it authentic? Who counted it?
In
Page 19 Keller says:
“Another
of the litanies is al-Hizb al-kabir [The Grand Invocation], by sheikh Abul
Hasan al-Shadhili (Allah be well pleased with him), also known as hizb al-Barr
[the litany of the land]. The sheikh said of it (Allah be well pleased with
him): ‘whoever recites our invocation shall have what we do, and bear
what we bear.’ He also said (Allah be well pleased with him), ‘whoever
learns it by heart is one of my companions’.”
Comments:
-
The
founder of the Shadhili order considered reciting hizb al-Bar the
criterion by which he divides the Muslims into two groups: (1) His people
and (2) the rest of Muslims.
-
To
this day whenever the scholars of Islam refute such deviant people, the
scholars get criticized for “breaking the unity of Muslims.” Please
notice that these Sufi sheikhs are clearly calling people into there many
different Tariqa’s and trying to create differences between Muslims (as
seen above). While the scholars of Islam are only calling people back to
the Quran and the Sunnah i.e. true Islam.
-
What
does “shall have what we do, and bear what we bear” mean? What
do his followers have that the rest of the Muslims do not have? What do
they bear that the rest of the Muslims do not bear?
In
Page 94 Keller says:
“The
Latifiyya is recited in a group on Tuesday nights, and there is general
permission to participate for both people who have taken the tariqa and
others who may attend.”
Comments:
-
Who
are those “others” that Keller is talking about? Are they fellow
Muslims?
-
If
yes, then since when has there been a Dhikr
that only some Muslims can recite? This way of thinking resulted in
disuniting Muslims into people who have taken the tariqa and those who
have not.
Please
see our notes on who has the right to issue Islamic Legislation in the Sufi
Heresies section above.
In
Page 18 Keller quotes another Sufi (Ibn Ayyad) saying regarding hizb al-Bahr:
”Whoever
recites it every day at sunrise, Allah hears his prayer, relieves his
distress, raises his standing among people, expands his breast with knowledge of
the divine oneness, facilitates his concerns, lifts his hardship, keeps from him
the evil of man and jinn, and protects him from the harm of mishaps of the night
and day.”
Comments:
-
Why
doesn’t he mention evidence from the Quran or the Sunnah, rather than
quoting Ibn Ayyad?
-
How
did ibn Ayyad know this?
-
Not
only do they invent a du’a, but they specify timing! Prescribing a
particular time of day mimics the authentic dhikr of the Prophet
SAAWS, who many times specified timing (i.e., morning, evening,
laylat’ul-qadr, etc.).
-
In
doing these innovated useless Dhikrs, it steals the time for making
authentic, acceptable du’aa, from the followers.
-
Since
we know that no evidence for this exists, then who gave him the authority to
specify results of this Dhikr? Only Allah and His Messenger have the
authority to make such statements.
In
Page 19 Keller quotes another Sufi (Ahmad Zarruq) saying regarding hizb al-Bahr:
“As
for bringing about effects with this invocation, it is commensurate with one’s
aim and aspiration that one has command of it to draw or repel, intending what
is desired when ones say, (And subject to us this sea).”
Comments:
-
Same
as comments #1 and 5 above.
-
It
seems therefore that one can get just about anything by making this Dhikr
and asking “(And subject to us this Sea)”!!
In
Page 35 Keller says:
”Ibn
‘Ayyad relates in the Mafakhir al-‘aliyya that al-Hizb al-kabir is a litany after
the dawn prayer. He
says: ‘One does not speak to others while reciting it, and it contains
a great secret in everything that no one knows except Allah.’”
Comments:
-
How
does he know that “it contains a great secret” that only Allah
knows about. That would mean that this secret is a part of the Unseen. Only
a prophet could know what Allah has withheld from humanity and kept in the
unseen, so is there any evidence for this from the sources of revelation,
the Quran and Sunnah? Or does
he claim prophethood?
-
What
is his evidence from the Quran of the Sunnah that a person must avoid
talking to other people while reciting it? Note: that it is
permissible to interrupt the recitation of the Quran to speak.
In
Page 74, Keller says about al-Wadhifa (a Sufi supplication):
He
said about al-Wadhifa (Sufi supplication): “Our teacher (Allah sanctify his
secret) mentions that whoever recites it regularly is protected from magic
by the leave of Allah Most High.”
Comments:
-
What
is the evidence that this supplication protects from magic?
-
Making
such a claim entails the following:
-
People
are driven away from the supplications in the Sunnah. The Prophet SAAWS
stated that magicians can’t resist the effect Surah 2 (a-Baqarah). He
also directed his Ummah to read the last 3 chapters in the Quran.
-
The
Sufis are making supplications that compete with what the Prophet SAAWS
has brought. In essence, this is a sign of disrespect to the status of
our beloved Prophet SAAWS by abandoning his role as a lawgiver and
inventing supplications that will eventually lead people to neglect his
Sunnah.
In
Pages 87-88, Keller says about hizb al-Nasr (victory)
(a Sufi supplication):
After
mentioning the hizb al-Nasr (victory) he said:
“This invocation may be recited by someone who wants to destroy an
enemy such as an unbeliever at war with Muslims. The way it is done is to
pray the nightfall prayer (‘isha), and when people have gone to sleep, to
renew one’s ablution, pray two rak’as, then to sit as one does for the
Testification of Faith in the prayer, and recite with concentration and full
presence of heart the word of Allah most High (Allah suffices us and is best to
rely on) 450 times, followed by the above-mentioned litany; and one
continues thus, repeating the two as long as one can. One does this for a number
of nights until the need is fulfilled.”
Comments:
-
On
what basis do Keller and his masters claim that hizb al-Nasr brings victory
when invoked? If it was based on a sound hadith, then let them bring it
forward. If it was based on personal experience, then based on whose
experience, under which circumstance, etc. Also, since when does one’s
personal experiences become a source for legislation for all Muslims?
-
If
this were an authentic du’aa, the Sufis would have no enemies left on
earth!
-
What
really brings victory to Muslims are:
-
Having
Taqwa and patience as Allah the Most High said: “But
if ye are constant and do right, not the least harm will their cunning
do to you” (Surah 3, Verse 120)
-
Preparing
the Ummah militarily, economically, spiritually, etc. Allah said,
“Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power,
including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the
enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not
know, but whom Allah doth know.” (Surah 8, Verse 60)
-
Having
purity of faith and doing good deeds, “Allah has
promised to those amongst you who have faith and do righteous actions
that He will certainly grant them the succession of rule (khilaafah) in
the land, as He granted it to those before them; and that He will grant
them the authority to practice their Religion which He has chosen for
them and that He will replace their state of fear, for one of safety;
provided that they worship Me alone and not direct worship to others
along with Me.” (Surah
24, Verse 55)
-
The
du’a of the weak and oppressed among the Ummah, “When ye sought help
of your Lord and He answered you (saying): I will help you with a
thousand of the angels, rank on rank.
Allah appointed it only as good tidings, and that your hearts
thereby might be at rest. Victory
cometh only by the help of Allah. Lo!
Allah is Mighty, Wise.” (Surah 8, Verses 9-10)
The Prophet SAAWS made du’a at the night before the Battle of
Badr, until his upper garment fell.
By dawn, he came with the glad tiding from Allah SWT to the
believers, concerning their enemies, “Their
multitude will be put to flight, and they will show their backs. Nay but
the Hour is their appointed time, and the Hour will be more grievous and
more bitter.” (Surah 54, Verses 45-46)
In
Pages 94, Keller says about the Latifiyya (a Sufi supplication):
“The
Latifiyya is recited in a group on Tuesday nights, and there is general
permission to participate for both people who have taken the tariqa and
others who may attend.”
Comments:
-
Where
did this Latifiyya come from?
-
Who
has the authority to give the permission? There is not a single hadith in
which the Prophet SAAWS gave permission to some people to do certain type of
dhikr.
-
What
if someone did some of the tariqa Dhikr without permission? Will he/she be
held responsible on the Day of Judgment for that? Will some harm befall
him/her?
General
comments on Secrecy in Sufism:
By
now, the reader must have noticed the following:
-
The
word “secret” has been used quite often. This raises a very legitimate
question: Why are there so many secrets in Sufism? As Muslims, when we read
the Quran, we find Allah SWT emphasizes the fact that He made the Quran
clear and simple so that we may understand it. The same thing can be said
about the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet SAAWS, who stated that he left us on
a clear path with a clear law, as recorded by Ibn Majah and others.
-
There
are many Sufi-made dhikrs that are designed to be invoked at certain times
(i.e. early morning or late afternoon) or to achieve certain benefits. The
Prophet SAAWS has also taught his Ummah dhikrs for similar times and
circumstances. It is very clear that the vast majority of people will find
themselves in a position where they have to choose between the dhikr
prescribed by the great Prophet SAAWS or the Sufi-invented one. This shows
that Sufi dhikr eventually leads to ignoring the Sunnah. This is especially
true if one considers the great emphasis Sufi sheikhs make to their dhikr.
In
Pages 1, Keller says:
“This
blessed collection contains those of the invocations and prayers of the Pole and
Succor my master Abul Hasan al-Shadhili.”
Comment:
Before
stating the comments, let’s consider first the definition of the terms “pole”
and “Succor”. The term Pole in
Sufi literature means the “perfect” man whom Allah looks after in the earth,
all the affairs of creation revolve around him. He takes his way in the
universe, both the seen and unseen parts of it, as the spirit takes its way in
the body. He could also be called al-Gouth (Succor i.e. helper) because people
seek his assistance in case of adversity. Ahmad al-Tijani (the founder of the
Tijani Sufi order) said: “ the reality of the Pole status is that he is great
vicegerent of Al-haqq (i.e. Allah) in all the universe, wherever Allah is a god,
the pole is his vicegerent in the sense that he (i.e. the pole) carries out all
the decrees that Allah might have. So, nothing will reach the creation except
through the pole."[6]
-
A
Muslim wonders where the Sufis got these ideas from. The Sufis claim that
they follow the Quran and the Sunnah but they adopt concepts that contradict
these two sources.
-
Why
would Allah need a human to help him in running the affairs of the universe?
-
What
are our duties as “generic” Muslims towards the Pole?
-
Should
we seek help, in case of adversity, from Allah or from
the Pole/Succor?
In
Pages 6, Keller says:
“…
And he in turn from the Succor
my master Abu Madyan…”
Comments:
See
the comment above
In
Page 8, Keller says:
He
mentions in his chain of narrators: “ and he took it from the Imam of those of
the path and of ultimate reality my master Fakhr al-Din, of the Poles with
command over the temporal, who took it from the godly Pole my master Nul
al-Din Abul Hasan “Ali, the Gnostic who joined between the secrets of
higher reality and the subtleties of the path, and he from the Axis of
Existence my master Muhammad Taj al-Din, who guided people to Allah through
Allah… who took it from the Axis of the friends of Allah..”
Comment:
-
See
the comment above
-
What
are “the secrets of higher reality and the subtleties of the path”?
-
What
does the Axis of Existence mean? Who gave him this title? What would our
obligations towards such a person be?
In
Pages 36-37, Keller says:
“And
your will is too exalted to be agreed with or contravened by anything
that exists.”
Comments:
-
If
anything that exists does not agree with Allah’s will then is it not
contravening (disregarding) Allah's will.
-
If
something neither agrees with nor disagrees with Allah's will, then where
does it stand regarding it!?
In
Pages 37, Keller says:
“There
is no god but Allah is the secret of the entity of the messenger of
Allah;”
Comments:
-
What
is this supposed to mean in simple terms to be understood by “generic”
Muslims? Another secret?
-
How
can the basis of a message (there is no god but Allah), one known to all the
messengers of Allah from Adam to Muhammad (alayhum asalam), be a secret?
-
In
truth, every “common” Muslim, in fact, every Kafir, every human being
was born a witness to Allah’s sole Lordship.
The secret’s out!
In
Pages 39, Keller says:
“I
ask You by the reverence due to teacher, by the sanctity of the Guiding
Prophet, by the sacredness of the Seventy eight, by the inviolability of
the secrets of what was given from You to the unlettered prophet Muhammad…”
Comments:
Keller
does not provide us with information concerning who are these Seventy eight.
The following are some legitimate questions:
-
”Seventy
eight what?”
-
What
sacredness do they have?
-
Who
gave them this sacredness?
Since
we all follow the Quran and the Sunnah, we need clear evidences from any of
these two for any seventy eight.
In
Pages 52, Keller says:
“And
make me the treasury of the Forty;”
Comments:
-
This
supplication tells us nothing about who are these Forty. Forty what?
-
Also,
it does not say anything about the importance of being their treasury.
-
As
noticed in other locations in this work of Keller, concepts are introduced
without supporting them with any evidence from the Quran or the Sunnah.
-
This
casts a doubt regarding the Sufi claims that they are the true followers of
the beloved Prophet SAAWS. If they truly follow him, then they would confine
themselves to the tariqa (path) he SAAWS presented to the Muslims.
The tariqa of this great Prophet is well explained in his Sunnah, so
why don’t Muslims abide by his Sunnah and stay away from newly invented
matters that divide the Ummah (into tariqas).
In
Pages 56, Keller mentions In Da’awat al-sheikh Abul Hasan (the supplications
of sheikh Abul Hasan):
“Through
the name of the controller, the All-powerful, and the Almighty is the final term
of everything, And it is He who makes me triumph: Qaf Jim Nun Sad, Give
me victory…”
Comments:
-
These
letters are similar to the letters found at the start of some chapters in
the Quran. No authentic hadith gives an explanation of their meaning. Hence,
why are we asked to invoke upon Allah with something whose meaning is not
known to us.
-
Is
this to add more mystery to the Sufi path? <”Qaf Jim Nun Sad, Give
me…”>? Is he inventing a new spelling of Allah’s name? Or calling
upon letters of the Arabic alphabet, when invocation is due to Allah alone?
Maybe he is trying to sound cool with some special “hocus
pocus, abra cadabra” terminology? This
is not the way the Prophet SAAWS used to make du’aa.
Indeed, it is very far from the methods of the Prophet SAAWS.
-
One
might think that “Qaf Jim Nun Sad,” is meant as a reference to the
Quran. However, none of the
Quranic chapters start with Jim !!
In
Pages 62,63, and 74, Keller mentions In Hizb al-sheikh Abul ‘Abbas al-Mursi:
In
hizb Abul ‘Abbas al-Mursi, Keller mentions:
-
“I
ask You by these, and by all verses and names, and by the mighty of them,
and the Fatiha, and Ayat al-kursi, and the closing verses, and by ‘Ameen’
when simultaneous, and by the ha of mercy, the two mims of
Power, and the dal of forever”
-
“Ahun,
Qaf, Adumma, Humma, Ha’, Ameen. Kaf
Ha Ya ‘Ayn Sad.”
-
“Ahun,
Qaf, Adumma, Humma, Ha’, Ameen.”
Comments:
1.
The above sentences contain some of the Arabic alphabets. We request any
Sufi to provide us with a verse or authentic hadith explaining the meaning of
these letters. Since it is well-known to Muslim scholars that there is no such
verse or authentic hadith, we wonder why do the Sufis leave the clear meaningful
authentic supplications of the beloved Prophet SAAWS for supplications invented
by someone who lived 6 centuries after the Prophet SAAWS, and whose so called
supplications have many mysterious components.
Also, if you read these invented supplications in Arabic you will easily
noticed their weakness in style, besides problematic content.
2.
This in and of itself is a clear indication that the Sufi masters who
claim to love the Prophet SAAWS are, knowingly or unknowingly, disrespecting him
by proposing alternatives to the dhikr the Prophet SAAWS brought
In
Pages 77-78, Keller mentions In Al-Wadhifa:
“And
plunge me into the seas of the absolute oneness which encompasses the composite
and the simple; and pluck me from the mires of affirming [tawheed], to the
infinite space of singularizing the One, transcendently beyond absoluteness or
conditionednees; And drown me in the very sea of oneness [al-Wahdah], in
Gnostic vision, until I do not see, or hear, or find, or sense anything but it,
whether descending or ascending, as shall ever be existence.”
[Note:
what is between the brackets is the original word in Arabic text of Al-Wadhifa.
I did not use Keller’s translation because it does not convey the full Arabic
meaning.]
Comments:
-
Can
an average Muslim understand this statement?
Why do some people make religious knowledge so difficult although
Allah SWT said about His own book: “And
We have indeed made the Quran easy to understand and remember: then is there
any that will receive admonition?”
(Surah 54 verse 17)
-
Oneness
(al-Wahdah):
Is
he talking about Oneness of being in Sufi terms? The Sufis say:
Oneness of Being (Wahdat-al-Wujud) in Islam means that nothing in this world can
contain God, but God contains everything. Or nothing is God, but nothing is
separate from God.
For
more information, the reader may follow the link concerning ibn
Arabi on our web site, or visit the following Sufi web sites:
http://muslim-canada.org/wujud2.html
http://members.aol.com/heraklit1/ibnarabi.htm
If
this is what he is talking about, then this contradicts the articles of faith as
Muslims know it.
In
Pages 99, Keller quoted Abul Hasan al-Shadhili
–the founder of his tariqa- saying:
“He
who guided you to this world has cheated you; he who guides you to work has
tired you;”
Comments:
-
What
about the hadith in which the Prophet said, “For everyday the sun rises,
one must pay charity…” until he said “and to help a craftsman is a
charity, and to help an unskilled person is a charity.” Who takes
precedence over the other, the Prophet SAAWS or al-Shadhili?
-
Subhan
Allah – the clear contradictions and yet the claims of following the
Sunnah.
In
Pages 17, Keller mentions in hizb al-Bahr:
-
“Ta
Sin. Ha Mim, ‘Ain Sin Qaf.
He
has loosed the two seas that meet, between them is a barrier they do not
cross.
-
Ha
Mim Ha Mim, Ha Mim, Ha Mim, Ha Mim.
The matter be done, the
victory come, against us they shall not be helped”.
-
“Bismillah
is our door, Tabarka our walls, Ya Sin our roof, Kaf Ha Ya ‘Ayn
Sad our sufficiency, Ha Mim ‘Ayn Sin Qaf our protection.”
Comments:
These
underlined parts of the above statements are letters in the Arabic alphabets.
They have no meaning on their own. They render the statements above meaningless
unless there is a Sufi secret behind them. We request the Sufi to present
evidence from the Quran or the Sunnah explaining the meaning of any of these
letters.
Interestingly,
some of these letters have specific meaning within the Sufi community. For
example: Abu Yazed al-Bastami[7] said that Qaf (an Arabic
letter) is the name of the mountain that surrounds the earth!
In
Pages 71-72, Keller mentions in hizb Abul ‘Abbas al-Mursi:
-
“Qaf
Jim are two secrets from Your secret, each signifying other than You;
“
-
“My
nothingness is my being, and my being is my nothingness.”
Comments:
Concerning
the first statement, the reader is kindly requested to see the previous comment.
The
second statement shows how the Sufis are fond of complicating Islam to the point
of contradicting one’s own statement.
In
Pages 74, Keller mentions in hizb Abul ‘Abbas al-Mursi:
At
the end of the hizb of Abul ‘Abbas al-Mursi, he mentions: “O High, O Great,
O Clement, O All-knowing: Ahun, Qaf, Adumma, Humma, Ha’, Ameen”
Comments:
Please
see the above
comments
In
Pages 64-69, Keller mentions in hizb Abul ‘Abbas al-Mursi:
-
“O
Allah, we ask You fear of You, hope in You, love of You, longing for You,
intimacy with You and obedience to Your command on the carpet of beholding
You, looking to You through You, and speaking of You through You.”
-
“And
make me with You always, ever before You, looking at You through You.
And rid me of betweenness until
there is no between between me and You”
Comments:
-
What
does the underlined part mean?
-
If
we were to understand the last part of the second statement
literally –as people do usually- then we could interpret it to
mean becoming united with Allah.
In
Pages 75, Keller mentions:
“O
Allah Most Merciful and Compassionate: O Allah bless and give peace, in all
matters, outward and inward, to him [the Prophet SAAWS] from whose exalted
entity secrets were sundered…and through whom the knowledge of Adam descended
in him and upon him; The understanding of the mystery entrusted to whom has
stymied all creatures”
Comments:
-
There
is no proof for such a statement from the Quran or the authentic Hadith.
-
In
addition, the Prophet SAAWS is not in need for us to fabricate things about
his character. What has been transmitted to us through the authentic Hadith
about him is more than enough to prove that he has qualities above and
beyond other created beings.
In
Pages 89, Keller mentions in the al-Yaqutiyya Litany:
“O
Allah bless and give peace to him whom You have made the cause of splitting
asunder the secrets of Your illimitable oneness; and of the breaking forth
of the effulgences of Your absolute mercy; becoming the representative of the
numinous presence, and the successor of the secrets of Your divine entity.”
Comments:
1.
Neither Allah SWT nor the Prophet SAAWS has said this about Prophet
Mohammad SAAWS.
2.
In fact to claim that the Prophet SAAWS was the successor of the
secrets of Your dive entity” is a very serious exaggeration and lie against
our beloved Prophet SAAWS.
3.
Indeed, the Prophet SAAWS said, “Do not praise me the way the
Christians have praised the Son of Mary.
I am only the slave and messenger of Allah, so SAY –about me- the
slave and the messenger of Allah.”
Foot Note:
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